Plates
Greetings. The grandson of His Majesty King mahārāja Vijayāditya I, the shelter of the entire universe samasta-bhuvanāśraya, whose harsh sovereign rule overpowered all rulers rājanya bent down by the might of the blade of his sword, whose bodily excellence was cleansed by the distribution of gold weighed on many balance scales, the banner of whose reputation was irreproachable niravadya and noble, and who was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Caḷukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hāriti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed to kingship by Lord Mahāsena, to whom the realms of adversaries instantaneously submit at the mere sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions avabhr̥tha of the Aśvamedha sacrifice—; the dear son of his Vijayāditya I’s son His Majesty King mahārāja Viṣṇuvardhana IV, the shelter of all the world sarva-lokāśraya whose proficiency in the theatre of highly chaotic, terrifying great battles was extremely sharp, whose pair of lotus feet was worshipped by all kings, and whose appellation was Makaradhvaja: namely His Majesty the supremely pious Supreme Lord parameśvara of Emperors mahārājādhirāja, the Sovereign bhaṭṭāraka Vijayāditya II, shelter of the entire universe samasta-bhuvanāśraya, the supreme devotee of Maheśvara, who was deliberately appointed as heir by his mother and father, whose pair of feet is adorned by garlands on the heads of all subordinate rulers sāmanta, whose body is adorned by a host of irreproachable niravadya and noble virtues, who produces royal majesty as the Milk Ocean generated Lakṣmī, who is true to his word like the son of Dharma Yudhiṣṭhira, who is associated with virtuous people as Arjuna was married to an immaculate woman,I believe that the interpretation on the Arjuna side of the double entendre involves a woman, but I do not know of any particular person among Arjuna’s ladies who was called Nirmalā. who is endowed with a fearsome army as Bhīmasena abounded in fearsome strength, who is accompanied by images of deities as Sahadeva had the body of Sahadeva,This punning simile seems quite lame to me, but I may just be missing something. Sahadeva was known for his great physical beauty, so perhaps the king is described as having the body of Sahadeva, like Sahadeva himself. But this appears no less lame to my mind. whose power is as irresistible as the spear of Guha Skanda, and who is endowed with the three powers śakti-traya—this Vijayāditya II commands all householders kuṭumbin—including foremost the territorial overseers rāṣṭrakūṭa—who reside in Konūrunāṇḍu district viṣaya as follows.
Let it be known to you that on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun, for the augmentation of our vitality and health, we have given the village named Tāṇḍivāḍa with an exemption from all taxes, the donation being sanctified by a libation of water, to the grandsons of Vr̥ddha Maṇḍaśarman, a resident of Vaṁgipaṟu belonging to the Gautama gotra and the Āpastamba sūtra, who was excessively dedicated to the performance of ritual duties dharma and was engaged in the six duties of a Brahmin; to the two sons of his Vr̥ddha Maṇḍaśarman’s two sons Doṇaśarman and Goḷaśarman, who were skilled in the interpretation of the Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Itihāsas, Purāṇas and the treatises on polity nīti-śāstra; namely to Vr̥ddha Maṇḍa and Doṇaśarman, who are devoted to the performance of the brahmanical duties of learning and teaching, sacrificing and being commissioned to perform sacrifices, donating and so on, and who are stainless on account of their bodies being scented by the smoke of the clumps of smoke from the fires of their unceasing sacrifices.I presume that the full names of the donees are Vr̥ddha Maṇḍaśarman and Doṇaśarman, the former being the son of Doṇaśarman and the latter of Goḷaśarman. The text also permits the interpetation that the full names are Vr̥ddha Doṇaśarman and Maṇḍa Doṇaśarman.
Its boundaries are as follows. To the east, the river named Kaḷḷeṟu. To the south, the village named Purusaṁbu. To the west, the river named nī. To the north, the village named Majjūḷūru. It is located in the midst of these. Let no-one pose an obstacle to the enjoyment of rights over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. The reverend Vyāsa too has said:
Many kings have granted land, and many have preserved it as formerly granted. Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit reward accrued of granting it belongs to him at that time.
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.
Over and over again, RāmadevaThe name in this stanza is normally Rāmabhadra. begs all future rulers thus: “Each in your own time, you shall respect this bulwark of legality that is universally applicable to kings!”
The executor ājñapti of this provision dharma is Niravadya, who is erudite in the treatises on polity nīti-śāstra, endowed with complete intelligence, and devoted to his lord.See the apparatus to line 32 on my interpretation of the string niravadyeśa-vatsalaḥ.
Written ālikhita by Akṣaralalitācārya.